South Carolina rewards Muschamp with new deal
South Carolina coach Will Muschamp has received a six-year, $28.2 million contract after leading the Gamecocks to a nine-win season.
Muschamp is 15-11 in two seasons at South Carolina. He will make $4.2 million this fall under a contract approved Friday by the university’s board of trustees. His salary will increase by $200,000 each year of the agreement until it peaks at $5.2 million in 2023.
The South Carolina football program has had only six seasons with nine or more wins.
Each of Muschamp’s returning assistants also received a new deal and a raise. Defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson will make $1.2 million each of the next three seasons. New offensive coordinator Bryan McClendon will make $650,000 for the next two years.
Another Stoops at OU
One reason Bob Stoops retired as Oklahoma coach last summer was to have the luxury of time to watch his twins play high school football.
On Friday, Drake Stoops announced where he intends to play college football: Oklahoma.
The younger Stoops had scholarship offers but will sign with Oklahoma as a preferred walk-on.
He’s considered a threestar prospect and is listed by 247sports.com as the 20th-best prospect in the state of Oklahoma.
Two at N.C. State opt for draft
Running back Nyheim Hines and offensive tackle Will Richardson are skipping their final seasons at North Carolina State to enter the NFL draft.
The school announced both players’ decisions Friday. Hines ran for 1,112 yards and 12 touchdowns last season for the nine-win Wolfpack and was a first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference pick by The Associated Press. He averaged 143.7 all-purpose yards per game, leading the ACC and ranking fifth among Power Five conference players.
Hines was also a Wolfpack track star. He was an ACC champion and an All-American running the leadoff leg for the school’s 400-meter relay team. He also was an all-conference pick for the 100- and 60-meter events.
Richardson played in 11 games this season and did not allow a sack or a quarterback pressure.
Meanwhile, Georgia junior defensive tackle Trenton Thompson announced he will enter the draft despite a decline in production in 2017. Thompson had three sacks and was named MVP in Georgia’s Liberty Bowl win over TCU after the 2016 season, but he had no sacks in 2017. He had 38 tackles, including 3½ for loss, this season.